This site is on an unusual exhibit at the Library of Congress that focuses on the American imagination in the realm of the arts. Here you can find original documents and drawings in architecture, music, literature and more.
Smithsonian in the Classroom presents Building Up, Breaking Down. Teachers can download this comprehensive teaching package in which students investigate how buildings weather. See what happens to a building once it has been erected. Students will look at similarities and differences among urban and rural settings. In an examination of the geology of buildings, they will also look at such things as rock fracture, chemical weathering, and pollution. In addition to detailed lesson plans, this amazing teaching resource comes complete with background information, vibrant visuals, and student handouts.
This site explains what construction and building inspector's jobs entail. Learn about such topics as working conditions, employment, pay scale, training, job outlook, and related jobs.
In the exploration of ways to use solar energy, students investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of different test materials to determine which to use in passive solar building design.
Meet a construction worker who followed his father’s footsteps into a rewarding career operating large equipment like bulldozers. Hear about how he feels about being able to see what he has created.
Follow a structural engineer through a busy day working with of sophisticated design tools to create safe, long-lasting structures. You will see why he enjoys his work so much and learn how to become a licensed structural engineer.
Meet Adrienne LaChance, a Construction Engineer with Danis, who likes to build things and is part of a women-led team building a brand new hospital. Engineering Your Future shares real stories from young professionals who want to inform and inspire students about in-demand engineering careers.
The causes and effects of acid rain.
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Review the main concepts of earthquake-safe structures.
A free CK-12 account is required to view all materials.
Zooming In On Figures
Unit Overview
Type of Unit: Concept; Project
Length of Unit: 18 days and 5 days for project
Prior Knowledge
Students should be able to:
Find the area of triangles and special quadrilaterals.
Use nets composed of triangles and rectangles in order to find the surface area of solids.
Find the volume of right rectangular prisms.
Solve proportions.
Lesson Flow
After an initial exploratory lesson that gets students thinking in general about geometry and its application in real-world contexts, the unit is divided into two concept development sections: the first focuses on two-dimensional (2-D) figures and measures, and the second looks at three-dimensional (3-D) figures and measures.
The first set of conceptual lessons looks at 2-D figures and area and length calculations. Students explore finding the area of polygons by deconstructing them into known figures. This exploration will lead to looking at regular polygons and deriving a general formula. The general formula for polygons leads to the formula for the area of a circle. Students will also investigate the ratio of circumference to diameter ( pi ). All of this will be applied toward looking at scale and the way that length and area are affected. All the lessons noted above will feature examples of real-world contexts.
The second set of conceptual development lessons focuses on 3-D figures and surface area and volume calculations. Students will revisit nets to arrive at a general formula for finding the surface area of any right prism. Students will extend their knowledge of area of polygons to surface area calculations as well as a general formula for the volume of any right prism. Students will explore the 3-D surface that results from a plane slicing through a rectangular prism or pyramid. Students will also explore 3-D figures composed of cubes, finding the surface area and volume by looking at 3-D views.
The unit ends with a unit examination and project presentations.
Students will complete the first part of their project, deciding on two right prisms for their models of buildings with polygon bases. They will draw two polygon bases on grid paper and find the areas of the bases.Key ConceptsProjects engage students in the application of mathematics. It is important for students to apply mathematical ways of thinking to solve rich problems. Students are more motivated to understand mathematical concepts if they are engaged in solving a problem of their own choosing.In this lesson, students are challenged to identify an interesting mathematical problem and choose a partner or a group to work collaboratively on solving that problem. Students gain valuable skills in problem solving, reasoning, and communicating mathematical ideas with others.GoalsSelect a project shape.Identify a project idea.Identify a partner or group to work collaboratively with on a math project.SWD: Consider how to group students skills-wise for the project. You may decide to group students heterogeneously to promote peer modeling for struggling students. Or you can group students by similar skill levels to allow for additional support and/or guided practice with the teacher. Or you may decide to create intentional partnerships between strong students and struggling students to promote leadership and peer instruction within the classroom.ELL: In forming groups, be aware of your ELLs and ensure that they have a learning environment where they can be productive. Sometimes, this means pairing them up with English speakers, so they can learn from others’ language skills. Other times, it means pairing them up with students who are at the same level of language skill, so they can take a more active role and work things out together. Other times, it means pairing them up with students whose proficiency level is lower, so they play the role of the supporter. They can also be paired based on their math proficiency, not just their language proficiency.
Students will explore the cross-sections that result when a plane cuts through a rectangular prism or pyramid. Students will also see examples of cross-section cuts in real-world situations.Key ConceptsStudents are very familiar with rectangular prisms, and to a lesser degree, they are familiar with rectangular pyramids. However, students haven’t been exposed to the myriad possibilities for solids that result from planar slices. The purpose of the lesson is for students to explore these possibilities.GoalsIdentify the plane figures that result from a plane cutting through a rectangular prism or pyramid.
Gallery 2Allow students who have a clear understanding of the content thus far in the unit to work on Gallery problems of their choosing. You can then use this time to provide additional help to students who need to review the unit’s concepts or have fallen behind on work.Gallery OverviewOne World Trade CenterThis task gives students an opportunity to further explore figures that have been intersected by a plane. The task also allows students to revisit scale and think about the net of a sliced prism.Sketch ThreeThis task extends students’ knowledge of nets as they think about surfaces that are triangular and won’t line up parallel. Students may need to use a protractor to keep the angles of the sides consistent.Partial Cube NetThis task provides students with further experience in thinking about the revealed surface in a sliced prism, constructing a more complex net, and estimating area based on area formulas and measuring.Round PrismsThis task extends students’ knowledge of prism measurement to cylinders, which are really no different. Students will see that the only difference is that the base is circular, and they know how to find the circumference (perimeter) and area.Project Work TimeStudents may use a Gallery day to work on their projects and get help if needed.Cube Volume and NetsUsing the 2-D/3-D tool or the parallelogram cubes, students create a solid made of cubes. Using the 2-D views as a guide, they make a net for the figure and find its surface area. Students are challenged to make the net with one piece of paper.Same Surface Area, Different VolumeStudents create two solids with the same surface area but very different volumes. They that surface areas are the same by drawing the 2-D views.Tree House 2This task gives students further practice making a scale drawing and thinking about the net of a solid. Students should also realize that the plans for a building are the 2-D views of the building and are similar to a net.
This multimedia Learn Alberta math resource looks at the structural design of buildings and how the Pythagorean Theorem is often involved in the design process. The accompanying interactive component asks students to build a variety of right triangles as they investigate calculations of the Pythagorean Theorem. Be sure to follow the link to the printable activity included to reinforce target skills.
Students learn about frequency and period, particularly natural frequency using springs. They learn that the natural frequency of a system depends on two things: the stiffness and mass of the system. Students see how the natural frequency of a structure plays a big role in the building surviving an earthquake or high winds.
A collection of resources about tunnels that includes basic facts about tunnels, challenges faced by tunnel diggers, famous tunnels from around the world, and a lab that helps you understand the kinds of forces that keep tunnels from collapsing. Also includes links to recommended websites on related topics.
Students are introduced to brainstorming and the design process in problem solving as it relates to engineering. They perform an activity to develop and understand problem solving with an emphasis on learning from history. Using only paper, straws, tape and paper clips, they create structures that can support the weight of at least one textbook. In their first attempts to build the structures, they build whatever comes to mind. For the second trial, they examine examples of successful buildings from history and try again.
Build your understanding of this satisfying hands-on career where workers build attractive structures that are made to last a lifetime.
Greg discusses his career as a sustainability design engineer. He calls himself a "Green Engineer." He shares his two-fold focus: to create healthier living environments that conserve resources and design systems that make a positive environmental impact. Engineering Your Future shares real stories from young professionals who want to inform and inspire students about in-demand engineering careers.